Interview - Shirt/Pants

We caught up with Virginia's Shirt/Pants ahead of their set at DC9 opening for The Orwells on their short East Coast run. We discussed the creation of their 2015 EP "Save Your Lungs for Cigarettes," their insight on DIY, and how they landed their opening slot on the Orwell's Underplay Tour.

CSDC: How did you guys meet and become Shirt/Pants? How long have you been together?

Dashab: We all met in high school.

Sam: Me and Chase were in separate bands. We've been playing in bands for a long time together, and then Dashab and Nabeel have been playing in bands for a long time together. We just kind of found each other because we were the only musicians at our high school. We eventually got together. We were fill in musicians at first, but they liked us enough to keep us.

CSDC: Where did you guys go to high school?

Dashab: Chase, Sam, and I went to a school in Woodbridge Virginia, and Nabeel went to a school not too far down the street from us.

CSDC: Your latest EP "Save Your Lungs For Cigarettes" came out in 2015 and it's majorly great. It has a refined sound that takes years for most bands to get, can you tell us about the process behind making this EP?

Dashab: We had those songs for a long time. We never really recorded anything, we just always played live shows. People started asking us where our CD's were, so we decided to record.

Sam: The reason it might sound kind of refined is because we had just gotten off a tour at that point. That was a few weeks after our first tour. We had been playing together for two weeks in a row, every night.

CSDC: Who did you tour with?

Sam: We toured with our friends, Tomato Dodgers. We did a little East Coast tour. Then we recorded the EP in Annandale, Virginia with a guy named Pablo. He has recorded the number of local Virginia bands. He does a good job and he's a really good guy. I recommend him to anyone with a budget.

CSDC: The underground hip-hop scene is very prevalent locally, but there is also a smaller but thriving underground rock/punk scene. We see people like Babe City Records and Paperhaus pushing that movement, but on the same hand, there are tons of bands that perform with little to no fan base at house parties around the DMV. Can you give us some insight into what it's like being apart of the bubbling scene?

Dashab: We've been really involved with the College Park scene. We know John and Eric from Babe City Records personally. They usually hit us up for a show and we would always say yes. The scene is good, I wish it was more, but it's good. The venues here are awesome.

CSDC: What do you think is your favorite thing about the DIY venues here?

Sam: Now, I'll be honest about DIY... I am not a big DIY guy. I like the Rock and Roll Hotel, DC9, 930 Club.

Dashab: I like it a lot. Asher (of Tomato Dodgers) has a venue in Maryland called The Void.

CSDC: Didn't Sun Club play there recently?

Dashab: Yup, I was there! They get a lot of cool bands to play there. The Gods of 1967 played there, Chain and the Gang played there.

CSDC: So, the reason we're all here tonight: how did you guys get set up opening for The Orwells?

Sam: Okay, this is a long story and I'm actually going to tell it again on stage tonight. The first show I had ever been to was actually The Orwells, four or five years ago on their first tour. They played to 20 people at this venue. My girlfriend, Mary, saw them and she's like their biggest fan, they know her. We emailed their booking agent about the show, because I would always hype it up and be like "We are going to open for The Orwells, one day it is going to happen." Their booking agent said no. I asked my girlfriend to message Matt, a guitarist of the Orwells. They said they would love to have us.

You can keep up with Shirt/Pants at all the links below. All photos by Magdalena Papaioannou for Capitol Sound DC.